spending

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

GDP Data Source and Methodology Revision

On July 31, 2013, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revised its GDP methodology. The published GDP and real GDP for each year going back to 1929 has changed. For instance, the GDP for 2012 under the new methodology was reported as $16,244.6 billion; under the old methodology the GDP for 2012 was $15,684.8 billion.

Presumably, BEA will update its state GDP methodology when the 2013 numbers come out in June 2014.

Up to now, usgsovernmentspending.com has used Table 10.1 in the Historical Tables of the Federal Budget for projected GDP and measuringworth.com for historical GDP. We used measuringworth.com because its data series goes back to the 1790s.

Starting now, we are using measuringworth.com for GDP from 1792 to 1928; we are using the BEA GDP from 1929 to the present. And we are using Table 10.1 in the Historical Tables of the Federal Budget for projected GDP.